Longing Heart is a fantasy romantic comedy about a man (Lee Jung Shin) who travels back in time and tries to help his younger self (Seo Ji Hoon) win the heart of his first love (Lee Yeol Eum) so they can be together in the future. But things get complicated when she unexpectedly develops feelings for him instead!

What a sweet little drama this is! Longing Heart surprised me by just how charming of a story it was. It has such likable and wonderful characters that bring to life this time travel romance with plenty of heart, laughter, and feels.

Lee Jung Shin plays the older Kang Shin Woo. His biggest regret in life is that he never confessed his feelings to his first love back in high school. So when he mysteriously travels 10 years back in time, he gets the opportunity to try and encourage his younger self to do what he didn’t do.

Seo Ji Hoon is the younger Kang Shin Woo. And he was such a cutie in this drama! His crush on Ji Soo is adorable, and he is so nice to her and is always ready to help. It was sad seeing his little heart break in his pursuit of her as he had to watch her growing affections for older Shin Woo.

Lee Yeol Eum plays Han Ji Soo who is Shin Woo’s first love. Difficulties in Ji Soo’s past caused her to leave her town and all of her friends without even a goodbye. So when Shin Woo goes back in time, he gets the chance to learn more about her and what led her to leave as he tries to change things for the better.

At only 10 episodes that are 45 minutes a piece, Longing Heart felt quick and breezy. The pacing was great with new developments always happening and easily leading from one event to the next. It was just a super easy watch overall.

While there are a lot of time travel dramas, I thought the premise of this one was really interesting with older Shin Woo actually getting to interact with his younger self. And if you want a unique love triangle, it’s hard to get more unusual than two legs of the triangle being your older self and your younger self!

As older Shin Woo ends up being a teacher in the past, we watch as he tries to use this opportunity to change things so that he can be with Ji Soo in the future. So he helps younger Shin Woo by taking him under his wing and giving him advice.

He also tries to help Ji Soo as he now sees her in a new light and realizes all of the difficulties she went through in the past. But a huge wrench is thrown in older Shin Woo’s plans when Ji Soo falls for him rather than younger Shin Woo. Whoops! Now that creates a big problem!

The bromance in this drama is also particularly fun. What’s better than a bromance with yourself? Older Shin Woo and younger Shin Woo have a mentor/student type relationship, but it’s also very brotherly as the two bicker yet have fun together.

And the whole love triangle felt kind of strange in a good way. On one hand, I found that at times I was rooting for one Shin Woo over the other. They each had their charms, and I liked them both with Ji Soo. But at the same time, they were both the same guy so I could also root for and enjoy each of their relationships with Ji Soo. It was just a unique situation that I actually found quite fun and refreshing.

I thought the drama had a lovely mixture of being a sweet love story with plenty of cute and fun moments as well dealing with a couple heavier aspects of the story that allowed things to go deeper emotionally as the drama progressed. It was balanced very well.

Now you should be aware that this isn’t the kind of drama that is going to tell you how the whole time travel thing works. It’s just one of those mysterious happenings that is meant to give someone a chance to change his life. So don’t think to deeply about things since as with most time travel dramas, there are a few potential loopholes here and there. Just try to go with it since the story itself is very well done.

Longing Heart is wonderful if you are looking for a sweet drama that has romance, bromance, a good story, and that touch of fantasy. Lee Jung Shin, Seo Ji Hoon, and Lee Yeol Eum were all great in their roles and made their characters interesting and compelling. I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely drama.

8 Responses to Longing Heart Korean Drama Review

What an awesome review. Thank you for the hard work Kay. The review feels so real and exact, since I’m already on episode 4 and can relate a gist of it.
Very impressive as always. It indeed is an enjoyable drama so far.

Enjoyed it totally. Though the drama unveils itself with time slips here and there, but it all has it’s own significant meaning in the end. And yes, how intriguing it is to know how you’ve turned out in the future and then sticking to that path to turn out just in that way in future. Though the concept was a bit unrealistic but that’s what we watch D-R-A-M-A-S for.
Thanks for the wonderful review. Awaiting more latest drama reviews.

Glad it was a good one for you too 🙂 Yes, I really loved how the time travel was used in this drama. And that he ended up deciding to live his life the same way to make sure that the future stayed the same. It made for a really nice circle of events. Such a sweet drama!

How to describe this drama? It is like a flower in the middle of a grass field. Nothing fancy. Just something cute, beautiful, and special.

This drama has one of the best story-lines, as far as I can remember. Though I am forgetful. So maybe there are others I forgot about already. Like you said, I did not anymore think about the time traveling aspect since different writers have different takes on time travel “logic”. But overall, it was amazing that it had me on the edge of my seat.

It could have benefited with better cinematography. It could have been a 10, I think. Nothing wrong with it but Kdramas have upped the stakes recently with dramas like Goblin, While You Were Sleeping, Kim Bok Joo, etc. So the expectations are way larger. It was a good 8 or even a 9.

I thought the exact same thing…why did this drama have to be so short!? I certainly wouldn’t have minded spending a few more episodes with these characters 🙂 But at least it kept things tight and never draggy.

And I really like how you describe it as being like a flower in the middle of a grass field. It really doesn’t do anything super different, but it really delivers a sweet and beautiful story with great characters. It was just such a lovely drama that was breezy and fun yet still emotionally gripping. I was really hoping it would work for you as a little break from the heavier dramas. I think it’s a perfect fit when someone wants something fun that has a good story and is meaningful. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂